Wood Lark: I will no longer need to hang my head in shame, for wood lark is now on my list!! A fairly common bird I know, but for some reason I just haven't seen one in the UK before.
Perhaps its because wood larks are found mainly in eastern and southern England or maybe its because they are heathland specialists, and up in Wigan we have very little of that around.
More likely its because I'm pretty lazy and knew I would connect with one eventually.
I spent the day with Mark Payne and Stoke-on-Trents very own Phil Locker who was our guide for the day and give me an introduction to the Chase. Top bloke, top gen, top day, cheers Phil.
Almost as soon as we arrived up on the heath we could hear the tell tale call of the wood lark before spotting a bird flight past us with its distinctive broad wings and short tail.
We could see presumably the male, perched on upon a tree singing. We could see its short crest, rusty cheeks and prominent supercilium, the two sides meeting in a shallow ‘v’ on the back of the neck.
The bird put on a good show displaying and singing above us.
Green Hairstreak: We moved off to another part of he Chase and stumbled across the very small but very beautiful green hairstreak. We had several butterflies including orange tip, peacock, comma, small white, brimstone, small tortoise shell and speckled wood.
Pied Flycatcher: Cannock Chase is huge, absolutely massive about 2684ha right in the middle of the county and is an outstanding area of heathland with nationally important populations of nightjar and woodlark. The surrounding plantation conifers have crossbill and the oakwoods are good for wood warbler, redstart and pied flycatcher.
We checked out the areas that are best known for spring arrivals and we weren't disappointed. Picking up both male and female pied flys and a stunning male redstart.
Fresh from its migration, this male pied fly was a belter.
Tree Pipit: These pipits are rather plain birds, streaked brown above and pale below, with streaking on its chest and flanks. They are very similar to meadow pipits but may be distinguished by their heavier bill and finer streaking on the flank - they also have very different calls.
We got lucky again as we watched this male singing away at the top of a dead pine before parachuting down on to a nearby stump giving us great view.
We ended the day at the local put with a celebratory drink and a smile on my face.
Wood Lark: I will no longer need to hang my head in shame, for wood lark is now on my list!! A fairly common bird I know, but for some reason I just haven't seen one in the UK before.
